


Well I Wonder

by hisen



Series: Go Local Sports Team And/Or College! [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cheating, F/M, M/M, stalking your ex's new boyfriend and falling for him instead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-24
Updated: 2013-05-24
Packaged: 2017-12-12 21:19:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/816169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hisen/pseuds/hisen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Alfred knows he isn't perfect but he is an awesome dude. Knowing that there’s someone else out there who is better than him to such an extent that his girlfriend prefers him, and not knowing why he’s better is unbearable. He is going to have to find out more about this guy, and then use that knowledge to get more awesome than him."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this prompt on the kink meme:  
> Alfred is in a relationship with [X]. He catches [X] cheating on him with Arthur and ends the relationship later on. Arthur is unaware.  
> Alfred kind of stalks Arthur to find out what kind of guy [X] left him for and ends up falling for him.  
> I don't care who [X] is, but I'd prefer it to be some random OC instead of one of the other nations.  
> No threesomes, must end in USUK.

_Soz cant do tonight prof moved deadline last minute have to pull a allnighter :( next weekend? xx_  
  
"Like you've given me a choice..." Alfred sighs as he puts his cell down and looks at the lab report he’d been rushing through. Not that he had any need to rush now. Damn it, he’d been excited when his cell vibrated, hoping she would send him one of those cute pre-date texts like she used to instead of just cancelling at the last minute again.  
  
He spends another fifteen minutes writing five words, which he deletes straight afterwards, before his phone goes off again.   
  
 _lol the red sox are kicking your ass!!!_  
  
He doesn't even know why Gilbert was texting him about baseball ("too slow, needs more violence" had been his judgement on the sport the one time they’d watched a game together) but it annoys him further. His phone buzzes again and it seems that even a thousand miles, Gilbert heard his mental question.  
  
 _you owe my awesome self twenty bucks if they win_  
He snorts and noticing the glare of the girl opposite him on the table, decides to concede for now and go home. Maybe he can ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach if he eats and plays enough Bioshock. 

* * *

 

Alfred still has to go to the store on his way home, though when he'd found the shopping list he’d made that morning before class he'd crumpled it up and threw it away. He’d spent hours looking for a recipe for something impressive but would be difficult to mess up too badly, wanting to impress her ("hey honey, look what I can do!") but he'd just get a frozen pizza or something now. And some ice cream.   
  
The girl on the checkout is cute and normally he would have tried to joke with her to ease the awkwardness of how his shopping indicated 'I'm a loser' but he can't even work up a smile and stares into the distance instead. He's making a serious effort to fix whatever it was that had made her distant but she's freezing him out like this. He is still trying to pin down exactly what he'd done wrong anyway when he leaves the store, breath turning into condensation in the cold night air.   
  
Alfred isn't sure what draws his attention to the guy who's loitering outside the coffee ship that's on his way home. Maybe it's because his girlfriend is a regular there, or maybe it's the fact he can hear the string of curses he's unleashing from the other side of the street as the guy stamps his feet to keep warm. Or maybe it's just the giant eyebrows the guy has on his face. My god, he thinks, they're huge. It's impossible to ignore them. He feels like a moth drawn to a, uh, caterpillar.  
  
It's probably for the best he decided to major in Physics instead of English.   
  
He's gone past the shop when he hears a familiar voice in the distance.  
  
"Sorry I'm late!" His head nearly snaps off because he whips it around so fast to check if his mind's playing tricks on him. It's not. It's his girlfriend, and he's about to call out to her when he sees who she's actually talking to.  
  
The guy outside the coffee shop stops cursing and straightens up and raises a hand. The scowl on his face is gone, and if anyone had told him he could smile like that before Alfred saw it himself he wouldn't believe it. It's just kinda shitty that the person he's smiling at like that is his girlfriend is all.  
  
She reaches him, and when she passes under a street light he can see peeking under her coat is her favorite date dress. He hasn't seen her wear it in over two months now. The guy scoops her into a hug and leans down to kiss her. The height difference is smaller than when Alfred kisses her. She says something, he’s too far away to hear what, he laughs as they break apart and he opens the door for her. He hears her giggle as she goes in – when was the last time he heard her laugh like that? – and they vanish inside, leaving Alfred still standing on the sidewalk, bag handles digging into his hands, face freezing and heart breaking.

Alfred isn't an idiot, despite the many people who'd argue otherwise. He knew that his girlfriend's been unhappy recently, and he has been trying to fix it, he really has. But he didn't expect her to be seeing another dude like this, or to catch her cheating on him like this. It feels awful.  
  
He stops at the liquor store on the way home, and buys a bottle of his favorite whiskey even though he should save his money for other things, like the rent.   
  
It's when he's had his third drink he works out what's pissing him off so much. It's not just that she's been lying to him and avoiding his attempts to fix things to fuck someone else, or the fact it explains why they haven't had sex in ages either – though those things piss him off too. It's the fact that this other guy must somehow be better than him. If he wasn't, she wouldn't be sleeping with him would she?   
  
Alfred knows he isn't perfect but he is an awesome dude. Knowing that there’s someone else out there who is better than him to such an extent that his girlfriend prefers him, and not knowing why he’s better is unbearable. He is going to have to find out more about this guy, and then use that knowledge to get more awesome than him. 

* * *

  
_Things I know about the jerk that's with Hannah:_  
 _He has freaking huge eyebrows. Seriously, how the hell did he get eyebrows like that?_  
 _Short 'n scrawny._  
 _Likes coffee?_  
 _~~Austrian?~~  Australian? Used some weird curses that sounded Australian._  
 _Scowls a lot._  
 _Green eyes?_  
 _Nice smile (but mine is way better)_

* * *

 

"Oh god..." Alfred opens his eyes and wishes he hadn't because the room spins in a way that makes him want to puke. He shuts them again as he reaches for his phone, even though from the drool on his pillow he can tell he was so out that his alarm didn't wake him up. He cracks open one eye to look at the screen. It's midday. His first class was at eight thirty. He also has several texts, all from Gilbert and all of them mocking him.   
  
"Fuck."  
  
Once he's showered and feels a little more like a human being with some brunch inside him, he thinks about last night and this guy who might be better than him. It doesn't feel so personal in the light of day – after all the guy probably has no idea he exists – but he's still curious to know more about him.   
  
He picks the two things he knows will help him find this guy on their small campus – his accent and his eyebrows. Alfred also knows who's likely to know this guy. He just hopes that his roommate isn't in class right now as he calls him.   
  
"Hello?" Kiku's voice is crackling over the line but he doesn't sound busy so Alfred presses ahead.   
  
"Hey dude, I was just wondering if you knew an Australian guy with huge eyebrows?" From the silence on the other end, Alfred suddenly realizes that he probably should have approached the subject with a little more subtlety.  
  
"Excuse me?" Kiku squeaks, clearly thrown by the weirdness of his request. He hears someone in the background, Kiku replies, hand over the speaker and he knows what's about to happen but he still jumps when a new voice booms down the line.  
  
"We'll arrange a meeting if you help the international society with our event this weekend." The voice leaves no room for argument and Alfred finds himself agreeing even though he has a paper due Monday. "He's helping out with sign-ups this afternoon. If you go there you can meet him. Anything else?" Alfred manages to blurt out that nope that's everything thank you very much before Ludwig hangs up the phone.  
  
He has no idea what kind of household could have produced both Gilbert and Ludwig, because his former mentor's (not that he ever took the role seriously) little brother is terrifying.

Alfred makes it onto campus for his last class and manages to even answer a question. Once class is over, he goes to the international center – though it's actually three rooms together at the end of the corridor, the international student body isn't big enough to justify an actual separate building. He steels himself for whatever will happen before he goes inside.   
  
It's quiet in the room and there's just three students inside. Two of them are in deep discussion, on opposite sides of a table covered with forms. The third is sitting behind the table too but he's rubbing at the plaster on his nose and staring into space. The two behind the table have huge eyebrows; the third student's are normal which is a relief because Alfred's not sure if he could deal with three sets of those eyebrows at the same time. Alfred feels confusion mixing with his disappointment. Where the hell are they getting these eyebrows from anyway? The one with the slightly bigger eyebrows and the plaster notices him and stands up, slamming a hand on the table before pointing it at him. The normal looking student jumps but the guy with smaller - though still huge - eyebrows doesn't even flinch and continues talking.   
  
"Alfred! Right?" Alfred nods, dumbstruck as he jumps over the table – the normal looking student ducks as he does – and shakes his hand. "The Kraut said you wanted to see me."   
  
"Don't call him that." The guy with smaller eyebrows comments, throwing a pen at him as the third student excuses himself from the room.   
  
"Aw, gimme a break! I'm Jack, that whinging kiwi over there is Riley. What did you want?"  
  
"Uhh..." Shit, he probably should have thought about what he was going to say before he came in, though seeing as this isn't the right guy it wouldn't have made a difference. The guy must have been British, he thinks to himself, because he didn't sound like this...much. "Have you ever wrestled a crocodile?"  
  
Riley looks at him like he's an idiot but a grin spreads across Jack's face.   
  
"You've heard about that? Ah, it was a beaut of a beast, but I got it. Let's get a pint and I'll tell ya about it. Oi Riley I'm off." Jack leads him out of the room and he thanks whoever’s watching over him that he managed to find the one Australian who has actually wrestled a crocodile.   
  
"Ever played rugby?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"We're trying to make a team – Riley's a demon on the pitch and Javi won't stop crowing about how good he is. Did ya play American Football?"  
  
"Sure." Jack slaps him on the back with a grin on his face, and okay, this isn't why he came here today but he’s been promised free beer and maybe hair of the dog will help.

* * *

  
_~~Austrian? Australian? Used some weird curses that sounded Australian.~~  BRITISH._


	2. Chapter 2

He's lost in the English department. He’s supposed to be seeing a professor who'll assign him to a student tutor to help him this semester but he has no idea where he is. He might have even wandered into the Sociology department by now.   
  
Alfred hopes he hasn't, because that's where Hannah is and he hasn't talked to her since that night. She's texted him twice and didn't seemed concerned by his lack of response but he has a feeling she's going to chew him out when they do finally talk. It's ridiculous considering she's the one who's cheating not him, but even though his policy has always been "cheat and it's over" he's not sure if he wants to let go yet.  
  
Not that there’s much to let go of anymore.  
  
He hears two voices approaching and he ducks behind a corner. He doesn't want to admit to anyone he's lost yet, he's sure if he keeps looking he’ll find the right office eventually. Damn these identical corridors. He waits for the voices to go but they stop a few feet away and Alfred curses his luck.  
  
"Looks like we’re in the same tutorial, non?"  
  
"Let me see, you idiot." His breath catches at the second voice. It’s British and by the string of curses just unleashed as he checks the notice board opposite it has to be the same guy.   
  
"I do hope you don’t talk to your lady like that." He hears spluttering and Alfred pokes his head around the corner. He doesn't recognize one of them but the other is the pair of eyebrows he's been looking for. He's scowling and his face is going red as the other man continues to tease him.  
  
"Oh fuck off frog!" He snaps, and Alfred is amazed by how different he looks to when he last saw him. He wouldn't have guessed from the way he’s shouting that he’s able to look anything but disgruntled.   
  
"Oh ho ho, has it already gone wrong for you? Is Arthur back on the shelf?"  
  
"My love life is none of your business, you wanker." Arthur retorts, hitting him with one of the books in his arms and he squeals in mock-pain.   
  
"How could you? To your only friend?"  
  
"You’re not my friend! You’re just some tosser I can’t get rid of." Arthur grumbles as he's laughed at. This...this is the guy his girlfriend is choosing over him? He wasn't acting this angry and violent when he was with her, but perhaps this is his true face instead of his dateable face. Alfred wonders if he should be concerned about him after all.  
  
"Is it going well with her?" He asks after a moment of silence, and Arthur schools his face into a neutral expression. Then he nods and a tiny smile escapes onto his face.   
  
"Yes. Um, thank you for..." He dismisses Arthur's thanks with a wave of his hand.   
  
"Say nothing of it! For me, to see two people in love is the finest thing! Even if one of them is an angry uncivilised rosbif like Arthur Kirkland."  
  
"How dare you, you bloody-" Arthur whacks him again and Alfred leans back behind the corner as he sees look over in his direction. He hopes he hasn't been spotted because he doesn't know how he'll explain why he's been spying on their conversation. When he looks back the Frenchman is gone, but Arthur is still looking at the notice board. He leans up and Alfred watches his arm stretch, the way his top rides up and shows a tiny sliver of skin, as he tears off a strip from the bottom of a notice.   
  
Arthur looks at the strip he's torn off and he smiles at it. It's the same way he smiled at Alfred's girlfriend. Then he turns and he vanishes down the corridor.   
  
He's not sure what the hell Arthur's deal is, but the encounter he's just witnessed has made him even more curious than he was before. What is this guy really like?  


* * *

  
_Green eyes ~~?~~_  
 _His name is Arthur Kirkland._  
 _English major_  
 _likes music? (took battle of the bands flier)_  
 _Has no friends?_

* * *

 

Alfred is hiding from Ludwig, hoping that if he vanishes for a while Ludwig will forget that he exists and is supposed to be helping him and he can slip away without earning his wrath.   
  
It went well at first, even the weather was on his side when he woke up and found it a bright and warm morning for winter. He helped Jack and Riley set up the room for the mixer, lugged around heavy boxes while Kiku directed him. Even Ludwig said he was being helpful, high praise from someone with such a stick up their ass. The guests started to arrive, several of the Europeans with bottles hidden on them.  
  
"We're supposed to take any alcohol we find but as long as people are subtle about it we turn a blind eye. Since most of them can legally drink at home they tend to be less excitable." Kiku told him when he'd asked him about it.   
  
"But if they cause any trouble we send the administration after them." Ludwig added, and Alfred nodded as he helped him hoist the box onto a shelf. He wasn't going to rat them out and it's not like their campus is dry anyway.   
  
The fire-dancers that were supposed to perform didn't show up but it didn't spoil the mood as the international students chatted and the few Americans who'd turn up got to know them. In fact it was all going well right until Hannah arrived with one of her friends. They spotted each other the instant she walked into the room, and Alfred had been overwhelmed by all the conflicting emotions that seeing her again had brought up. She started to walk over to him and he had given into his first instinct and fled the room.   
  
Now he's sitting on the bench in the courtyard of a nearby dorm building, head in his hands as he ignores the vibrating of his cell in his pocket.  
  
"It looks like all is not well for you, yankee.” Alfred doesn't look up at first at the voice. He's not sure why he's appeared in front of him, and his gut tells him it's bad news that he's bringing. "Can I sit here?"  
  
"Knock yourself out." He doesn't look up as he hears him sit down next to him, though he bats off the arm that's slung over his shoulder. "And don't overstep your boundaries."   
  
"Says the man who was spying on me, non?" Alfred glares at him, pretending that the blush that's spreading on his face isn't there. He gets his cell out and sees that as he expected the missed calls are all from Hannah and Kiku, which is probably Ludwig borrowing his cell.  
  
"Wasn't spying on you. I was lost."  
  
"But if you were lost, surely you could have just asked us for directions. But instead you stayed and listened to us." Alfred realizes there's no way he can deny this so he stays silent instead, fiddling with his cell. “Well! It should not become a habit but I can overlook it this time. Arthur did not notice, after all." Alfred freezes and his eyes flick up to his face.   
  
"How did you know?" He mutters and the other man laughs. Alfred narrows his eyes and looks away, cursing his own stupidity. This sneaky bastard just got him to implicate himself.   
  
"I had an idea from the way you fled the room as soon as she arrived, and well...what is your name?"  
  
"Alfred."  
  
"Alfred – I'm Francis – she suddenly went pale and excused herself. Why would you flee from Arthur's girlfriend? Perhaps Arthur is not the only man in her life after all."  
  
"Did you know?"  
  
"That she already had a boyfriend? No. Arthur might be.." Francis pauses, leaning his head back to think before continuing "...the most irritating person I've ever had the misfortune to meet but I wouldn't have encouraged him if I'd known. Have you broken up with her?" Alfred sighs and runs his hand through his hair. Have they broken up? He still hasn't said a word to her since that day. Is now the time to let go?

"I don't know. I haven't talked to her since I saw her with Arthur."  
  
"Does she know that you saw them?" Alfred shakes his head, he's sure of it. "What do you think you should do?" Alfred's cell starts buzzing again, it's Kiku again and he ignores it as he prepares to ask a question he didn't think he'd ever ask in this kind of context.  
  
"Is...Arthur better than me?"  
  
Francis bursts into laughter and Alfred feels a growing urge to throttle him as he continues to laugh for a full minute until he finally stops. Alfred can feel that he's gone red and he wishes the ground would swallow him up because how can today get any worse?   
  
"Ah, sorry, the idea of anyone thinking Arthur is better than them..." Francis wipes a tear from his eyes and Alfred stares at his feet. "Perhaps I am too harsh on him. While he’s aggressive and mean most of the time, he does have a softer, I dare say even romantic side. It's not a side of him I see often, but you know what kind of friends we are."  
  
Alfred's not sure what to make of this information. She always said she liked how straight forward he was (though not when he is "being so insensitive to other people's feelings" as she always complains when they fought), so to hear that she's cheating on him with someone who sounds so difficult to handle is hard for him to process.  
  
Maybe that's why she started to see someone else though.   
  
"So..."  
  
"I don't know. Only you can discover that. I have only just met you after all."  
  
"What do you think I'm like?" He's not sure why he's asking this stranger to assess him, but he's suddenly aware that whatever he thinks about himself is probably not how others view him. He doesn't imagine that Arthur views himself the way others see him either. Francis gets up from next to him and stands in front of him, thinking as he rubs his beard.   
  
"You're somewhat insensitive. I think you want to do the right thing, though, and be a hero, but sometimes you hesitate and then throw yourself in too hard and too fast to make up for your hesitation. Your intentions are good but your actions don't always match up. How American of you, really."  
  
"You got all that already?" It's not the first time he's heard himself describe like that but it's almost like Francis has known him for years. Francis laughs.   
  
"I cheated and asked Kiku about you before I came to talk to you.”   
  
"Oh." Alfred is suddenly deflated, though he's not surprised to hear that's how Kiku views him.   
  
"But I think you shouldn't hesitate any further. Just don't throw yourself too hard now." Francis offers as his cell starts buzzing again, this time with Hannah's number appearing on the screen. "I'm sure we'll see each other again."  
  
"On a campus this small? It'd be a miracle if we didn't." Alfred mutters as he picks up his cell, Francis laughs again but leaves Alfred to take his call.  
  
"Alfred, where the hell are you? Why have you been ignoring my calls?" Hannah continues to talk at him as he looks up at one of the dorm windows. He sees an American flag in one of the windows and squeezes his eyes shut, gathering his courage up. He can do this. He needs to do this.  
  
"Hannah, we need to talk."  


* * *

  
_~~Has no friends?~~  friends with Francis  
_ _sounds difficult to handle_


	3. Chapter 3

It's two in the afternoon, his report is due at half five and he still has three pages to write. He's been staring at the blinking cursor for twenty minutes, hoping for inspiration to strike. It doesn't. Alfred looks at the mess surrounding him, the empty takeout boxes that are threatening to collapse on him, the piles of paper everywhere, the stack of textbooks that are also threatening to fall on him and suddenly he needs to get out of his room. Maybe a change of scenery will help inspire him to greatness.   
  
At least it'll ensure that he's not crushed to death by his own mess. He grabs his laptop, textbooks and notes and stuffs them into his bag before rushing out the apartment. He shouts goodbye to Kiku who's lying on the couch surrounded by stacks of programming manuals, staring blankly at his laptop's screen. Kiku doesn't notice him and Alfred adds to his mental list of stuff to do 'make sure Kiku remembers to eat' as he runs down the stairs, knowing that his roommate forgets to when deadlines are looming.  
  
His feet take him to the coffee shop and it's only when he's about to go in he remembers that oh yeah, he's been avoiding this place because he doesn't want to see Hannah. He stops in front of the door, suddenly indecisive about what to do next.   
  
C'mon, this is completely unheroic of you, he tells himself. A hero wouldn't be scared of meeting his ex like this. I'm Alfred F. Jones, I'm not afraid of anything, especially not deadlines and women who hate me!   
  
Fired up by his words, Alfred enters the coffee shop, and despite his words he's relieved to see she's not there as he lines up. There's only one barista working and the line is long, so he peers around to look at the front of the line.   
  
He spies a familiar face two people ahead of him. He's got a book in one hand and he's reading furiously, mouthing the words to himself as he does. Despite himself he smiles, and though he knows he should look away he finds himself continuing to watch Arthur. He tries to read Arthur's lips but he's moving them too fast and watching them is making his stomach go tight.   
  
"Can I help you?" A second barista who’s just appeared chirrups at Arthur and both of them are startled by the sudden interruption. Alfred feels himself blush as he looks away because he doesn't like the fact he was watching someone's lips like that in public.   
  
"Medium Earl Grey please."  
  
"Milk with that?"  
  
"Yes but for the love of everything holy put the milk in afterwards."  
  
"Yes sir, wouldn't dare get an Englishman’s tea wrong!" The barista laughs and Alfred sneaks a look at Arthur to see his reaction. He looks stunned for a moment then looks away with a smirk.  
  
"Yes, well."  
  
"That'll be two dollars, thank you!" Arthur goes back to his reading, more calmly this time, though his eyes flick up to check on his order as he reads. Alfred finds it hard to look away from him, almost missing being asked for his order and he feels a rush of envy when Arthur smiles at the barista – a tight forced smile but a smile regardless – which is, uh, kinda fucked up. He's running on auto-pilot by the time he actually gets his drink, a huge monstrous beverage with at least three shots in it and a mountain of whipped cream on top. He finds himself a seat at the booth running along the back wall and spreads out all his work, trying to get his brain focused on physics again.   
  
As he turns on his laptop he looks up and sees that Arthur is sitting at a table right in his line of vision. His heart both leaps and sinks at the fact. It is not a normal reaction to seeing the guy your ex left you for.   
  
It's been over a month since his relationship with Hannah ended. While he didn't tell her outright that he'd seen her with Arthur, he had strongly implied that he'd known, and the fight had rapidly turned ugly. That was that, he guesses, and he's happier now that it's not lurking over his head with all the work he has right now.But he's still found himself looking out for Arthur. He doesn't feel the need to compare himself to the other man now, if he wants her he’s more than welcome to her, but for some reason he hasn't been able to get Arthur out of his head. He keeps seeing him in crowds, in the library, in the cafeteria picking at his food, everywhere he goes on campus Arthur seems to appear.   
  
It's gone beyond simple interest because Arthur has unknowingly made a major impact on his life. He remembers the day when he realized it was starting to move towards, and his toes curl in his sneakers in embarrassment at even thinking the word,  _attraction_.  
  


* * *

  
  
It was snowing, even though the weather had been warm the week before, and Alfred was one of the few people willing to brave the weather to go outside. He hadn't wanted to leave his warm apartment but work demanded that he did, so he arrived in the library just as the sun was starting to fall in the west. He was passing through the stacks, trying to find a free socket, when he saw Arthur.   
  
He was by one of the windows, flicking through a book. He could hear him cursing under his breath, a stream of obscenity that even a sailor might have objected to issuing from his mouth, before he shut the book and looked out the window with a sigh.   
  
The sun came back out from behind a cloud, the sudden light filling the building, brighter than usual as it reflected off the snow and Arthur…  
He had never seen anything as beautiful as Arthur at that moment, looking out of that window, hair shining in the light from the setting sun, green eyes staring out into the wide world, his pale skin almost glowing. He would have never expected it from the scrawny foul-mouthed Brit with those weird eyebrows.   
  
The sun dipped behind the clouds again, the light went and it hit Alfred exactly what he'd just seen and what he was thinking. He did the only thing he could.  
  
He got the hell out of the stacks before Arthur saw him gawping at him.   
  


* * *

  
_in the right setting he can look really beautiful_   
  


* * *

  
Alfred watches him as he writes his report, eyes darting from the screen in front of him to the man who's reading as he drinks. He almost forgets to drink his own coffee before it goes cold. Arthur serves as both a motivation and a distraction. He sets targets for himself as he writes that he mostly achieves – he writes so many words, he gets to have another look at Arthur. Alfred knows it's kinda creepy but it works, and when he sees Arthur staring off into space, as if he's looking at something Alfred can't see, with a small smile on his face, it makes it all worth it.   
  
When he looks up after four pages, Arthur is gone. His heart sinks as he focuses back on his work, starting to wonder what he should do next about Arthur.   
  
He has started to get to know Arthur through seeing him like this, but he needs to talk to him to really get to know him. To work out exactly what it is he feels for him.   
  
It's not the fact that he's a guy that's holding Alfred back. He's messed around with other guys before if not since he graduated high school. He's accepted that part of himself.   
  
The actual problem is how the fuck is he going to approach him now without looking like a creepy stalker?  
  


* * *

  
  
_likes ~~coffee?~~  tea _


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm really sorry." Alfred is a tiny bit irritated that his plans for tonight – watching Netflix while gorging himself on junk food – have been spoilt by his roommate, but he sees the way he's struggling to hold up Ludwig and he can't get angry at him. He hooks his arm around Ludwig and tries to take as much of his weight as possible, because Kiku looks like he's about to fall over.   
  
"You weren't kidding about his drinking." He staggers a tiny bit as Ludwig leans onto him, not expecting his full body weight all of a sudden. "The hell happened?" He's had to navigate a drunken Gilbert to safety before but from what he knows (partly from hearsay and partly from Gilbert's complaining) Ludwig handles his drink well. Apart from tonight, which is why his roommate called him desperately asking for his help to get Ludwig home from the bar they were at. Alfred tries to be as heroic and reliable as he can and he couldn't ignore such a distress call.   
  
"Ludwig encountered some personal issues and they led him to overindulge." He gives his roommate a sullen glare for his explanation, because could he have been vaguer? When Kiku is evasive he takes it to another level, Alfred thinks irritably. "I'm sorry, but he told me in the strictest confidence..." Alfred sighs and waves his free hand weakly.  
  
"It's fine." He sees the cab he booked finally arrive and he's filled with relief. Ludwig mutters something in German as the cab pulls up to the curb and Alfred thinks he's free as he helps Kiku get him into the cab. He can walk back home after this and go back to his evening of TV. He helps Ludwig into the cab, shuts the door as Kiku gets in from the other side and watches as it drives away. He's about to turn to leave when someone yells his name.   
  
"Oi, Al!" He raises his arm to acknowledge Jack as he comes over.   
  
"Hey, I'm on my way out dude so..."  
  
"Just one pint! C'mon, I asked Riley and got told to eff off." Alfred thinks wistfully of his couch but when was the last time he hung out with anyone, especially Jack? He's seen him around on campus briefly and even made an attempt at playing rugby (Javi laughed at him the entire time but he tried!) with him but he could probably do more.   
  
"Fine, but you're paying." Jack grins at him, saying something about favorable exchange rates and Alfred's sure he'll be entertained if nothing else.  
  
Three drinks later, they are – well Jack is – talking to two girls. One of them is interested in him even though she was disappointed to find out he wasn't Australian too, but he deflects her advances while Jack tells a story about wrangling kangaroos. He can't tell where the bullshit starts with Jack, and when the girls excuse themselves for a minute, Alfred asks.   
  
"Little bit of both. But mate! That bird is all over you and you're sitting there with a face like a smacked arse-"  
  
"What does that even mean?"  
  
"What's wrong with ya? Still mooning over your last gal?"  
  
"Pff, no way. It's just, uh, there's someone else..." He trails off and is relieved when Jack doesn't press him further as the girl he's been flirting with comes back, without her friend.   
  
"Hey, you wanna come back to my place?" Jack nods and gets up.  
  
"Get your coat love, you've pulled." The girl laughs and vanishes off again. "Bless Americans, if I said that to an Aussie she’d laugh in my face." Alfred doesn't get why but he doesn't ask. "Good luck with your bird, I'm off." Jack leaves to follow the girl out and Alfred decides it's time to go home. Drinking alone isn't how he wants to spend his night.   
  
The cold night air is refreshing after the sticky humid air caused by too many bodies in a small confined space and Alfred breathes in deeply, the beer keeping him warm. He turns in the direction of home and is passing an alley next to the bar when he hears puking. He stops, two instincts battling inside him. One tells him to keep walking, and the other tells him to be a hero to the drunks of the world again and help out this unknown person.

The side that says it's not his problem is winning right until he hears the puking stop and the person starts sobbing instead. His heroic side just can't ignore tears and he goes back and peers down the alley.   
  
He recognizes the back of the person's head and it's embarrassing that the first thing he thinks is 'how did I miss him in there?' He walks over, purposely making noise so that he'll be noticed, and puts a hand on his shoulder.   
  
"Are you okay?" Alfred asks, and Arthur's head whips around so fast that he instinctively covers his mouth again, though luckily nothing comes out. His green eyes are filled with tears and Alfred's never been so close to him before, or seen him look so vulnerable and so damn miserable. Arthur looks at him with despair and confusion on his face, and opens and shuts his mouth before finally replying.  
  
"That bastard left me! He talked me into going out and then he left me! That fucking bearded git, I'm gonna..." Arthur loses track of what he's going to do and trails off. Alfred doesn't know what to say, he still feels nervous about finally making contact with Arthur even though he's this drunk, so he just squeezes his shoulder instead. Arthur stares at him, his eyebrows furrowing as he thinks, and though his gaze is hazy Alfred can feel a blush creeping across his neck.   
  
"Are you an angel?" Arthur asks suddenly, and the blush goes across his whole face.  
  
"What? No!” He doesn't mean to be that forceful about it but Arthur doesn't seem to notice and smiles at him. He doesn't want to know how red his face is going as Arthur smiles at him like that, like Alfred is the best thing he's ever seen, and reaches up to pat his hair.  
  
"You must be, why else...why else would you have this hair?"  
  
"C'mon, you need to go home."  
  
"Fuck you, I'm fine!" Alfred moves his hand from Arthur’s shoulder to his arm to move him along and despite his protests Arthur goes with him. Arthur drops his hand and he's relieved to get it off his head because despite the way he's been watching the other man over this past month he's not prepared for this touchy-feely behavior.   
  
They leave the alley and Arthur leans on him as he calls for another cab. He wraps his free arm around Arthur, just to help him stay upright of course, and Arthur's head lolls onto his shoulder, eyes shut. Alfred's surprised by this, from what he's observed Arthur hates his personal space being invaded and doesn't like people, especially strangers, touching him. He seems like a different person again.   
  
"Feeling better? Gonna spew anymore?" Arthur snorts.   
  
"Spew. How American..." Alfred laughs as he puts his cell away and uses his free hand to pat Arthur on the head.  
  
"Is that a yes?" He asks softly. With Arthur this close to him he can't hide his affection, even though he was throwing up a few minutes before (he's relieved that none of it got on their clothes). Arthur opens his eyes again and looks up at Alfred.   
  
"...I think I'm done." He answers, and Alfred nods, looking away because holding eye contact is just too embarrassing right now.   
  
"Tell me if you need to. Hey, you remember where you live right?" Arthur nods slightly and they're silent for a moment. Alfred both wants this moment to end right now before it gets anymore awkward and never to stop because this is Arthur leaning on him, his body warmth next to him in the cold night air.   
  
"Why did you drink so much anyway? Something upset you?" He asks, he wants to know what causes this sort of behavior in the Brit.   
  
"Nobody likes me! Even Hanney! Everyone leaves me! Even that bloody frog left me!” Alfred’s brain is still stuck on the revelation that  _he calls her Hanney holy shit she lets him call her that, she used to hit me when I called her Hannah Montana or Hannah Banana or Hans in a fake German accent_  to process the rest of Arthur's rant until he starts crying again.   
  
"Hey, hey, I'm sure she’ll stop being mad at you soon. You said sorry right?" Where the fuck is their cab? This isn't a conversation he wants to be having in public.

"But she’ll still hate me because everyone hates me! I'm just no good at...anything. I'm no good at anything!" Their cab finally pulls up and Alfred doesn't reply as he bundles Arthur inside and coaxes him to give his address to the driver, who's eyeing them suspiciously.   
  
"Is he going to throw up?" The driver asks Alfred.  
  
"I'm fine!" Arthur snaps.  
  
"You pay twenty bucks extra if he does." The driver tells Alfred before he pulls away. Arthur slumps down into his seat and Alfred decides now they're in a semi-private space he can reply to Arthur.   
  
"Not everyone hates you, I'm sure of it." Arthur looks at him, his lip wobbling and if it wasn't for the fact they’re effectively strangers and he only knows Arthur because Hannah left Alfred for him despite this crashing insecurity he'd hug him. But instead he just uses his best smile, the one he uses the charm his way out of trouble, on Arthur. Arthur looks at him like a deer trapped in headlights.   
  
"But..." And it's only because Arthur’s so drunk that he's pretty sure he won't remember any of it in the morning that he says it and if he does he’ll assume he was just saying it to pacify his drunken ass.  
  
"I like you."  
  
Arthur looks like a deer who can't believe a car didn't hit him. Then he looks away from Alfred and Alfred realizes that Arthur is blushing. His heart jumps into his mouth and stays there for the rest of the silent journey.   
  
Arthur insists on paying for the cab, though Alfred has to help him get the correct money out ("the fuck is this?" he declares angrily, waving a dime at him. "Why is it bigger than the small one???" Alfred smiles and shrugs at him). He can find his keys though, and stumbles into his apartment cursing as Alfred switches the lights on for him.   
  
Arthur disappears into another room and Alfred isn't sure what to do. He looks around the apartment, taking it as a chance to explore. It's tidier than his, with the dirty dishes piled into the sink, some remnants of burnt food attached to them. The bookshelf is crammed but the rest of the apartment is strikingly impersonal, apart from a few potted plants and a poster of The Sex Pistols on the door of the room Arthur wandered into. Alfred's a little surprised at it, he wouldn't have expected Arthur to like punk. He is angry enough for it though, so it makes sense in a weird way.  
  
"You okay in there?" He yells, and he hears a thump and more swearing.  
  
"I hate this floor!" Arthur replies angrily as if it answers the question. "Fucking floor!" Alfred looks in and finds Arthur getting up from the floor, wobbling as he does.   
  
"You should sleep." Alfred suggests.  
  
"Thank you, Einstein!" Arthur snaps back as he falls into his bed and there's the Arthur he's more familiar with seeing. He looks at the time and sighs in disappointment. He has an early class so it's straight to bed when he gets home.   
  
It was worth it to get to meet Arthur even if he’s being a difficult jerk now.   
  
"Are you going?" Arthur asks, not removing his face from his pillow.   
  
"Yeah, you’re home safe now so I'm gonna go." Arthur doesn't respond and Alfred turns to leave. His hand is on the door handle when Arthur mumbles something, face still in his pillow.  
  
"You don’t have to go. You can sleep here..."  
  
"Here?" He moves closer to the bed as he asks nervously, because he thinks if he shares a bed with Arthur he might just explode.  
  
"On the sofa!" He adds angrily, sounding embarrassed. "It's not for your sake, I just want to, it's not like I care if you get into trouble on your way home or anything!" He adds at the end and Alfred muffles his laugh because what the fuck is Arthur saying, really. He sounds like one of the girls from the animes he watches with Kiku sometimes.   
  
"Sure, okay." Despite his better instincts telling him not to, he goes over to Arthur, whose head remains firmly on the pillow. "Sleep on your side so you don't choke to death."  
  
"Do you really think I'd do that?" Arthur yells at him as he turns onto his side anyway, now facing him. His hair is messy and Alfred moves his hand to smooth it back before realizing actually no he shouldn't that's kinda weird so he drops his hand.

"If it happened to Hendrix it can happen to anyone." Alfred flicks Arthur's nose to dispel his own nerves and Arthur calls him a sneaky yankee bastard. He must be feeling better to be rude to him and he's relieved by it. Arthur shuts his eyes and Alfred should take it as his cue to go make himself comfortable on the couch. He does, but he also leans down and plants a kiss on Arthur's hair. Arthur makes no sign of having noticed and he decides to get the hell out of his bedroom before he does anything else stupid.   
  
"Goodnight A...eyebrows." He corrects himself as he turns off the light, since Arthur didn't tell him his name, and Arthur yells at him not to call him that as he shuts the door.   
  
In the morning he wakes up and leaves before Arthur is awake. It's only because he has an early class and nothing to do with not wanting to face the other man after overstepping some boundaries last night. He even leaves a note telling Arthur that (the early class part, not the boundaries), signing it Alfred but not realizing he forgot to add his number until he's halfway to his own apartment.   
  
"Ah, fuck." He mutters to himself as a woman walking her dog gives him a strange look. His head is a mess, but.  
  
He got to talk to Arthur.

* * *

  
_likes music ~~? (took battle of the bands flier)~~_  
 _bad drunk_  
 _touchy-feely when drunk_  
 _gives cutesy nicknames (but only to people he's dating?)_  
 _secretly insecure_


	5. Chapter 5

"You got presents? Cool! Anything exciting?" Alfred throws himself onto the couch and Kiku bounces up on the other end with a visible wince but doesn't comment on it.   
  
"Those are for you, Alfred." Alfred blinks at his roommate in surprise and then looks at the present and gift bag on the coffee table.   
  
"But...my birthday isn't till July."  
  
"They're thank you gifts." Kiku adds as Alfred leans over and picks up the presents. He unwraps the first gift and finds the game he’s wanted for months inside.   
  
"Dude, you really shouldn't have." He knows this costs fifty bucks retail and he’s embarrassed by how generous his roommate is.   
  
"It's from Ludwig too. You really helped us out that night." Alfred grins at Kiku and reads the card that’s inside the gift, in which Ludwig apologizes for his 'disgraceful behavior' and hopes this makes it up to Alfred. As if Ludwig's drunkenness would faze him after experiencing Gilbert at his worst.  
  
"You still really shouldn't have. That's just what a hero does." He looks at the gift bag. "Is this from you guys too?" He looks at Kiku and he has that mysterious smile on which Alfred isn't sure if he likes.   
  
"Hmm." Kiku replies and it just makes Alfred more curious as he looks inside the bag. There's a bottle of wine, a small potted plant and some burnt looking things in a clear bag along with a card. He lifts the clear bag out and tries to work out what the hell they are. He looks at Kiku and he has that look on his face that says if it was someone else – like Gilbert for example – he'd be smirking.   
  
"Do you know what these are?"  
  
"I could not say." He shoots a dirty look at his roommate before he takes out the wine and the potted plant. He opens the card and reads it.   
  
 _Dear Alfred,_  
 _I'm sorry for making you look after me while I was drunk. I hope the gifts make up for the trouble._  
  
 _Arthur Kirkland_  
  
 _p.s. IGNORE whatever Kiku tells you about the scones, they are completely edible! _  
  
"These are supposed to be scones?" He looks at the burnt lumps and wonders what he's going to do with them. Since Arthur cooked them for him (especially for him, he feels warmth spreading in his chest at the thought) he should try to eat them but they're the weirdest looking food he's ever seen and he has eaten at some weird roadside diners in his life. And the fact Arthur describes his cooking as 'edible' as opposed to 'good' or even just 'decent' worries him.  
  
"I would advise against eating them. I was...quite unwell the one time I ate his scones." Kiku has gone a little pale and now he's terrified but also wondering if he should try them just to see if they're that bad.   
  
"You know Arthur?" Alfred asks as he puts them down and looks at the wine. He knows nothing about wine but it looks fancy and the label says it's from England – strange, he didn't even know they made wine there.  
  
"Yes, from the society. He did a lot for me when I first arrived. I must admit, I was surprised when he asked me about you this week and told me you’d helped him."  
  
"Ah, well, that's just what a hero does!" Kiku doesn't look like he believes him but doesn't push the subject. Alfred fidgets for a minute, playing with the card in his hand before he gets the nerve to ask. "How did he know it was me?"   
  
"He's seen us together and I've mentioned you being my roommate before." He's surprised because he's sure he would have noticed Arthur before – for those eyebrows if nothing else – but he's relieved that he can guess the reason Arthur was willing to accept his help was because he knew of him from Kiku.   
  
He doesn't like the idea of random strangers getting that close to Arthur.   
  
Alfred eats the scones and Kiku is stunned. They are pretty awful but he's eaten worse – not that much worst but still – and he doesn't even feel sick afterwards, which Kiku tells him is a common side effect. It must be the strength of his crush on Arthur that makes it possible.  
  
That and his iron stomach.

* * *

  
_can't cook_

* * *

Alfred is running late for class, dodging between hordes of freshmen – they have to be, why else would they be blocking the way like this? He’s finally through them when he hears someone call his name in front of him, he tries to stop but his balance is off from his swerving and his momentum leads him crashing right into the person trying to get his attention.   
  
He grabs them to stop them from toppling over and then checks his glasses are okay before seeing if the person's okay.  
  
"Let go of my arm, you idiot, you’re hurting me!" Alfred's hand drops from Arthur's arm like it's burning him and Arthur glares at him while rubbing his arm. Alfred finds the glare more cute than intimidating but he tries not to show it.  
  
"Sorry!" Alfred uses his best grin again and he sees a very brief softening in Arthur's frown before it hardens again.  
  
"Yes, well. You should be more careful! Charging around like some sort of overgrown...dog." Alfred can't hide his confusion about what to make of being called a dog and when he notices the corridor emptying around them it reminds him of why he was hurrying in the first place.   
  
"As much as I'd like to stand around listening to you insult me, I'm running late so..." It sounded less sarcastic in his head than it did said out loud, he suddenly realizes as Arthur’s face falls a little.  
  
"I just wanted to say thank you." Arthur's voice is stiff and robotic and he doesn't meet Alfred's eyes. Shit. Trust him to mess up so quickly.  
  
"It's no problem dude. Thanks for the scones and stuff too, they were..." Arthur looks at him then, his stiffness gone, clearly hoping for praise for his cooking. Alfred wants to say they were good but he really can't. "Edible. I ate all of them!"  
  
"Really? Francis always says they should be classified as a weapon of mass destruction, that git..."  
  
"Welllllll, they were pretty awful," Arthur looks disappointed but Alfred presses on, "but I really appreciate the thought behind them." He wonders if that's a little too far to go but it seems to make Arthur look a little less disappointed. "I really have to go but if you're free after this we can go get a coffee?"  
  
"Ugh, no."  
  
"Tea?" That seems to work as Arthur huffs.   
  
"Well, I suppose since you've asked I can make some time." It's a ridiculous reaction to a simple request and it makes Alfred smile.   
  
"Awesome! See you!" Alfred sprints away, only because he's so late to his class and not because he's embarrassed in any shape or form, obviously. 

* * *

  
_gets down if you tell him he can't cook_

* * *

  
Alfred isn't running into Arthur anymore than he was before (though he hasn't literally run into him again), it's just that Arthur notices him too now. At first it's awkward because he doesn't know what Arthur remembers from that night or if he can really just be friends with Arthur. But it's soon clear that Arthur has decided that they can be friends. Argumentative friends who torment and tease each other, but still friends.   
  
When Arthur introduces him to "this bloody frog I can’t get to leave me alone", he's surprised and relieved when Francis takes mercy upon him and acts like this is the first time they've met.   
  
"I didn't want him to ask how we met." Francis offers as explanation as Arthur goes to get more drinks. They're at a sports bar Alfred decided to take them to 'experience real American culture' even though Arthur bitched about how much he hates American sports. "I encouraged him to take the leap after all."  
  
"Also it'd make you look like you don't know what you're talking about." Alfred adds and grins at Francis' dramatic sigh.   
  
"I am a mere mortal! Even I can get things wrong...when my information is incorrect."  
  
"Yeah, sure." Alfred plays with his empty bottle before continuing. "He wants me to meet her though." He winces at the thought, because holy shit that'd be awkward. "She always seems to be too busy for it though." Francis snorts.  
  
"I doubt it is chance that she is 'too busy'. If he talks about you to her as much as he does to me, she will be very aware that you two are friends."

"I wouldn't say anything."  
  
"You're too nice to her."  
  
"It wouldn't be for her sake." He snaps back without thinking. Francis  _smirks_  at him and goddamn it he's blushing again, is he a twelve year old girl or something? But it's the truth, and it's not for his sake either. Arthur talks about her sometimes to him and he sounds so happy when he does (apart from when they're fighting) that there's no way he'd trample all over his happiness like that. Even if...  
  
"I did not think you would be so gracious in defeat, but perhaps you have found something more valuable than revenge, non?" Alfred opens his mouth to tell Francis that it was never about revenge, more about self-improvement, when Arthur returns with their drinks. Alfred rolls his eyes at Francis having wine in a sports bar – really, how freaking European is this guy?   
  
Arthur passes him his Budweiser, asking him how he can drink this foul stuff and Alfred laughs, ignoring the way their fingers brush when he takes the bottle. He instead curses his team for giving away another penalty throw like they're a charity or something.   
  
"The fuck are they doing? They wanna lose or something?" He complains. Francis laughs at him while Arthur nods like he understands.  
  
"But they just scored, right?" Arthur asks as the other team converts another throw.  
  
"What? No! That was the Heat! You can't even tell them apart? Man, you really don't understand basketball." Alfred laughs, Arthur hits him and he ignores Francis' muttered comment about being a third wheel.  
  


* * *

  
_talks about me a lot (according to Francis)_  
 _doesn't understand basketball_


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, Alfred!" Alfred's heart sinks because he'd been hoping Arthur wouldn't notice him, that he could slink out of the coffee shop unnoticed, but no luck. He turns around, not before pasting a smile onto his face, and goes over to Arthur.   
  
Hannah looks like she’s ready to murder him.  
  
"Hannah, this is Alfred. I think I've mentioned him before?" The way that she's gritting her teeth suggests that yes, he has, and that Francis was right. Alfred tries to suppress his smirk but he can feel it show a little on his face anyway.  
  
"Yes." She manages to force out and it's really funny, in a sad way, that you can go from caring about someone so much to intensely disliking them like they do now. Arthur seems oblivious to the tension between them and rambles happily as Alfred sits down at their table.   
  
Hannah lasts ten minutes, glaring at Alfred every time Arthur isn't looking at her, telling him to please fuck off, and Alfred delights in ignoring the looks. She did always say he was insensitive to other people's feelings so it's not like it's his fault, is it?   
  
"Artie, I have to go." Alfred's struck by a jolt as he remembers when she talked to him like that, voice filled with genuine regret at having to part. It feels like it was a hundred years ago.   
  
"Really?" Arthur looks so disappointed. He's not used to seeing him this open without alcohol being involved and he wonders if he could make Arthur look like that, before forcibly dragging himself off that train of thought. Hannah nods and leans down so Arthur can kiss her cheek. "I'll see you later then love."  
  
Alfred is back on that train of thought as he wishes Arthur called him love like that and tries to get himself off again. No wonder his friends are making fun of him for being so lovesick.   
  
"It was nice meeting you Alfred." She almost sounds like she means it, though she leans in and mutters "knock whatever you're getting up to off, jackass". Alfred beams at her and she looks like she'd hit him if Arthur wasn't here.  
  
"Yeah, same." She departs and the tension at the table eases off. Arthur drinks his tea while Alfred plays with his straw.  
  
"Hey, Artie-"  
  
"Don't call me that, idiot." Alfred puts on his kicked puppy look.   
  
"But Artieee-"  
  
"I will hit you so hard your entire bloody country will feel it if you don't knock that off." Arthur mutters and Alfred doesn't miss his blushing.  
  
"Wow, even Hawaii? Anyway, how come she can call you that and I can't? You can call me Al, or Alfie. Alfie's cuter so..."  
  
"The only thing I'm going to call you is shit for brains, idiot. As for why, she's my girlfriend and you're not."  
  
"Would you like me to be?" Alfred blurts out before he can stop himself and he goes red and  _oh god so does Arthur._  They stare at each other as Alfred's brain tries to think of some way to play this off as a joke because if Arthur realizes he's not joking...  
  
"But maybe you should be the girl, since you'd look better in a dress anyway." Arthur squawks in outrage and leans over to hit Alfred as he laughs hysterically.   
  
"I'm not girly!"  
  
"I've seen your needlework–"  
  
"You bastard, I knew you'd been through my drawers!" Alfred can’t stop laughing as Arthur gets madder, even though people are starting to stare at them.  
  
Crisis averted. 

* * *

  
_gives cutesy nicknames (but only to people he’s dating ~~?~~ )_   
_talks about me a lot ~~(according to Francis)~~_   
_doesn't like me talking about his needlework in public_   
_he is really, really cute when he's flustered_   
_didn't yell at me for asking if I could be his girlfriend (why did I say that? I'm an idiot)_

* * *

"You two," Francis comments as they come out of the toilets (thank god he respects the unspoken agreement of silence inside), Arthur arguing with the bartender that he is totally fine, honest, he can have another drink so give him one already, "are like children who pull each other’s hair and shove each other into the sandbox."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"Because they are both immature brats who cannot express themselves."  
  
"Ya think." Alfred says because he really has no better response to what Francis is saying.   
  
"Stop pulling on his plaits and do something already, you're both driving me mad. Or I'll have to take action myself."  
  
"You wouldn't." Alfred states, but Francis' face says that yes he fucking will, he has no more patience for this Anglophone nonsense. "Give me time!"  
  
"Quit hesitating already." He snaps, and Alfred wonders if this is purely due to them or if Francis' own relationships are on the rocks again. 

* * *

  
"This is stupid – I'm sure someone in internal affairs would have noticed by now, he's so bloody obvious about taking bribes someone would have reported it." Arthur stares at the screen and gestures angrily at the actor who's just appeared. "This fucking guy! What's he even doing? How did nobody fire him?"  
  
"Dude, I agree, this movie is stupid." Alfred shoves some more popcorn in his mouth before he continues. Arthur looks smug to see him agreeing. "I mean like, where the explosions at?"  
  
"Where the explosions at? I think that's the worst English I've heard coming out of your mouth and that's saying something."  
  
"It needs more explosions. Like...that car." Alfred points at the car the crooked cop has just got into. "It needs to explode."  
  
"That sounds like an idea from your average terrible formulaic Hollywood rubbish–" The car explodes as the cop turns the key and Alfred whoops.   
  
"Called it!"   
  
"Congratulations, Hollywood is missing one of its idiots." Arthur says drolly and Alfred laughs because he knew Arthur would hate this movie, it was the reason why he chose it for them to watch after all.  
  
Arthur had called him two hours before, flipping out about a paper he'd just submitted.   
  
"It was awful! I'm going to fail the entire class because it was that terrible and then I'll be kicked out and sent home in shame and my brothers would never let me live it down!" He almost wanted to ask if Arthur was drunk but he just sounded upset instead. It's that time of semester, he guessed. He hasn't seen Kiku in nearly a week though he’s heard him shuffling around at four am, and all he seems to be doing is studying or writing last minute reports or trying to catch up on his missing sleep.   
  
"It's okay man, chill."  
  
"It is not okay! I will not 'chill'! You don't know my brothers! I will be hearing it until the day I die because even if they die first they will haunt me just so they can taunt me!" Alfred had no idea that Arthur felt so strongly about his older brothers, and he wondered if Matthew had ever said similar things about him to his college friends in Montreal.   
  
He hoped not, because yeah he hasn't been the best brother to Matthew but he loves him and if his brother needs him he'll always be there for him. He hopes his brother realizes that. Maybe he should call him later, he thought to himself, before he replied to Arthur.   
  
"You just need to take a break. Hey, I was going to take a movie break anyway, you wanna come over?" He'd been surprised when Arthur had agreed, and decided against the horror movie he'd been planning to watch (Arthur had forbidden him from watching them after the one time they'd watched one together and he didn't want him to know he wasn't keeping to it) and chose some terrible police procedural because Arthur always seems happier when he's complaining about bad movies.  
  
Arthur says it's okay because Nabokov did it too, but Alfred doesn't really get the connection and thinks he's more like Mike anyway.

"Explosions make every movie better, it's a fact.” Alfred tells Arthur as more people start talking, still missing who's really responsible for the information leaks.   
  
"Even Citizen Kane?"  
  
"Hell yeah! Imagine if Rosebud had exploded at the end. That would have been awesome."  
  
"No it would have not been 'awesome', it would have undermined the whole message–"  
  
"You smiled though, I totally saw you smile!" Arthur whacks him with one of the throw pillows Kiku keeps on the couch and Alfred grabs another and whacks him back.   
  
"You've messed with the wrong man!" Arthur shouts as they fight, the movie continuing ignored in the background as Alfred struggles to take his glasses off while Arthur smacks him mercilessly in the head. Alfred roars once he gets them off and he goes in a little too hard on his counter attack as he knocks Arthur off the couch and falls right on top of him.   
  
"Ow." Arthur rubs the back of his head, still pinned down by Alfred but he doesn't seem to be angry.   
  
"Sorry." Arthur snorts.   
  
"It's fine. My brothers are worse – get off me though, you're heavy."  
  
"Ah. Sorry." But Alfred can't get himself to move because it feels really nice to have Arthur under him like this, and shit if he keeps thinking about it he's going to get hard.   
  
"Alfred, get off me!" Arthur demands from below him, he can see he's blushing and he wonders what would happen if...  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"If you're actually sorry you could start by getting the hell off–"  
  
Alfred leans down and kisses Arthur, who makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like a squeak as he does. There's another explosion in the movie and the noise fills the room. Alfred would roll his eyes at how cliché the timing is if he wasn't so busy kissing Arthur.   
  
He feels Arthur running his hands through his hair, pulling him in closer and when he opens his mouth he bites on his lower lip before letting his tongue in. When they break apart, they're both panting, eyes wide and staring at each other as Alfred shifts onto his knees so his weight isn't on Arthur anymore. He's already half-hard just from this, it’s like he’s a teenager again.   
  
"Alfred..." Arthur finally says, and Alfred can't read the emotions in his voice as blood pounds furiously in his ears. "I..."  
  
"Sorry." Alfred gets up this time, and if the tension wasn't so heavy he'd make a joke about how British he sounds right now, constantly apologizing like this. He dusts himself off and then offers a hand to Arthur, who takes it and pulls himself up.   
  
"It's just..."  
  
"Your girlfriend, right." Alfred adds, and then curses himself for bringing her up at this time goddamn it. One day he's going to learn to engage his brain before he opens his mouth .  
  
"Yes, it's just..." Arthur seems to be scrambling for words and Alfred won't look at him, can't look at him because this feels far worse than that day when he saw her with Arthur. The other man gives up searching for the right words. It's ridiculous, he thinks, Arthur's the one who's supposed to be good with words.   
  
"I should go." Arthur finally offers, and Alfred nods. He still can't meet those green eyes because he doesn't want to see the inevitable rejection they contain.   
  
He doesn't look up from the floor until he hears the door open and shut. He wants to run after Arthur but he doesn't know what he'd say if he did and he needs to get back to studying already. Alfred doesn't bother to turn off the movie as he gets his glasses, trudges back into his room, sits at his desk and opens his textbook again.   
  
After a while he even stops staring at it and starts reading.  


* * *

  
_might secretly agree with me on explosions_   
_kisses really well_   
_is not going to leave her for me_   
_fuck_


	7. Chapter 7

"You!" The rest of his class doesn't notice, so relieved that lab is finally over that they don't notice one of their classmates is being cornered by his ex in a very public space.   
  
Alfred does and he is really not in the mood to be dealing with this. Hannah storms up to him, looking more furious than he's ever seen her before and even though she's smaller than him he almost cowers as she appears. He doesn't even know what she's mad about.   
  
"I don't know what you did –"  
  
"Oh hi, it's nice to see you too –"  
  
"But I hope you know you are the biggest fucking jackass I've ever met! You are such a monumental dickhead -"  
  
"You're even talking like him now, that's fucking adorable, now quit yelling." Alfred feels himself getting angry back because he's not about to take her yelling at him like this in public for no damn reason.   
  
"You didn't even do it because you wanted me back! You just wanted to fuck with my life! Well, well done Alfred! You've ruined my life! You always were a selfish asshole but I never thought you'd do this!"   
  
"I don't even know what you're mad about!" Alfred tries to reach for a reason why she'd be this mad with him this long after their break-up and he draws a blank. He'll just deal with the insults instead, those he can defend himself from. "I'm pretty sure you're the one responsible for us breaking up because I sure as hell didn't fuck someone else and you're calling me selfish?"  
  
"Fuck you! I don't know who the hell she is but I'm sure you're the one responsible for introducing them because why else would you have been hanging out with him?" Alfred is thrown by this sudden turn – Arthur has another girl? – but Hannah's continuing on without him. "Arthur dumped me because he said he loves someone else and I just know you're responsible because it's the exact kind of jerk move you do!"  
  
"I – what?"  
  
"I really like Arthur, and I know you're mad because you think he's better than you – and he is! – but did you have to do this?" The confirmation of part of why he started the whole mess with Arthur in the first place, that she does think Arthur is better than him barely registers in Alfred's head because he's still stuck on Arthur being in love with someone else. "Arthur can seem like a jerk but he's actually nice, while YOU, you seem nice but you're the biggest jerk I've ever met and just – your brother was right!"  
  
"Leave Matt out of this!" He snaps because he doesn't want to rehash the fight he had with Matthew at Thanksgiving while she was there again, especially not in public.   
  
"See? You never cared about me like that!"  
  
"He's my brother! And when I did care about you, you just went off with someone else anyway!"  
  
“No you didn't care! I was always second to everything else, even your – stupid fucking video games!" Alfred's confusion is starting to overwhelm his anger and he doesn't know what to say to Hannah, who looks even angrier and like she's about to burst into tears. "Well? Tell me it wasn't so and I'll call you a liar!"   
  
"Hannah..." She shuts her eyes and takes a breath to calm herself down.   
  
"Being with Arthur made me a better person than I was before. Being with you just made me worse. And now you've taken that away from me too. You win, Alfred. Your fucking thoughtlessness wins again!"  
  
"Then why the hell did you stay with me when you had him?" He can't accept her putting the blame on him like this. Would it have hurt if she had dumped him for Arthur? Of course, but she didn't and decided to string him along for a while instead, possibly longer if he hadn't seen them together.   
  
"I don't know!" The look on her face suggests she does though and it suddenly hits Alfred, months after the fact, why she didn't leave him straight away.  
  
"I was your backup in case it didn't work out." He says slowly. Hannah's silence is damning.  
  
"I don't know why. I'm sure being alone would be better than being with you." She finally replies. It's a low blow and it makes Alfred winces and leaves him without a reply. Hannah takes it as her chance to leave and vanishes into the crowd of students going between classes.

Alfred is left reeling. All the hurt that he thought he was over comes crashing back, even though he wouldn't take Hannah back for a million dollars now. Despite all the arguing they did when they broke up, she'd never been that direct with him before about why she left him.   
  
And despite the fact Arthur has broken up with her, he suddenly wonders if Arthur feels that being alone would be better than being with him too. He feels a tap on his shoulder and finds Jack behind him.  
  
"You okay there mate?" Jack asks, and he realizes how visible his confusion and hurt must be because the other man sounds deeply concerned.  
  
"...how much did you hear?" Jack inhales a breath between his teeth with a hiss.   
  
"All of it."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Come on." Alfred lets himself be led away from the scene of the crime by Jack, towards the direction of the cafeteria. "I think you were lucky to bail out on her." Jack comments as they walk. "That was a corker of a rant she had. Wouldn't fancy dealing with a bird like that either." Jack continues to talk but Alfred doesn't reply, he's still thinking about what just happened, and about one particular fact in particular.   
  
"Did she really say Arthur's in love with someone else?" He doesn't realize he's aired his thought out loud until he sees the confused look on Jack's face.  
  
"What, that whinging pom? Yeah but who cares about him? Haven't you got your eye on some other bird?" Jack stops and looks at him, really looks at him, and Alfred looks away. "Bloody hell, I don't fancy yours much."   
  
"Is it that bad?" Alfred asks and Jack pauses before shaking his head.   
  
"It's not that he's a bloke, it's just...bloody hell mate, those eyebrows."  
  
"I don't think you’re one to talk about eyebrows."  
  
"Oi!" Jack defensively touches his eyebrows and Alfred laughs, feeling a bit more normal again. "They're not monsters like his are!" He drops his hands from his eyebrows and then he shrugs. "I suppose there's got to be someone for everyone, even a whinging pom like him. So, you told him yet?"  
  
"Uh." Jack laughs at his answer, and Alfred frowns even though he can admit he did sound like a dumbass there.   
  
"Worst he's going to do is knock ya back. Worth a shot, ain't it?" Alfred feels it's easier said than done and he doesn't like feeling like that. He’s not used to doubting himself like this, it's not how he normally is. But has anything involving Arthur turned out normal for him?  
  
He ignores the message he gets from Hannah later. It simply says sorry and Alfred doesn't know or care to know what particular insults she flung at him she's sorry for. When he gets back to the apartment, he calls Matt straight away. He's surprised to hear from him again – Alfred's already done their normal monthly call.   
  
"Matthew, I need your advice." He rarely calls his brother by his full name but he feels he should when he's asking for help like this. Matthew sighs and turns off the TV he can hear in the background.   
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Am I really that unbearable?" He slides down against his bedroom door as the silence drags on, and he fears the answer is yes. Then Matthew sighs.  
  
"No, I just wish you were more considerate sometimes. What's happened now?"  
  
"Have you got time?"  
  
"Yeah." He had almost expected him to say no, and it's weird talking to his little brother like this. But his brother is really not little anymore and he was always the more sensible out of the two of them. "C'mon hero, tell me what's wrong." He smiles at that and he starts to tell Matthew all about what happened.   
  
"She was out of line saying that to you. You can be annoying...amazingly annoying but you're not the embodiment of all evil." Matthew says when Alfred finishes his story and that makes Alfred feel better. He doesn't get the wall of politeness Matthew uses to distance himself from others so he can trust what he says. That was part of the reason why Matthew listing everything he hated about him at the Thanksgiving table hurt so badly after all. "But more importantly, you need to confess to him."   
  
"That I like him?"  
  
"And that you used to date his girlfriend too." Alfred looks up at the posters on his wall and frowns. Does he really need to? Surely that'd just make things weird between them – weirder, anyway.

"Also, next time we fight, can you not wait until Christmas to apologize?" Matthew adds and Alfred laughs. After a moment, so does Matthew.   
  
"We could make it a tradition."  
  
"Dude don't even joke about it, everyone fights in this family at holidays. I don't want to add to it." But it's good to joke about it because it means they've finally cleared the air between them.   
  
Now he just needs to do the same with Arthur.   
  


* * *

  
_isn't dating Hannah anymore_  
 _I need to confess to him  
_

* * *

  
_I just had the most awesome nap ever!_  
He’s never wanted to reach through a screen and hit the person on the other side of it like he wants to hit Gilbert right now. Taunting him like that when he knows it's almost Finals and he’s spending his Saturday studying in the library instead of sleeping or doing anything that isn't working – he's got to be doing it on purpose. Alfred replies with "fuck off or I'll tell Ludwig about the time you cried over Liz" and he's relieved but unsurprised when his cell remains silent after that.   
  
Alfred goes back to his Quantum Mechanics, skipping three different tracks on his studying playlist as he does. His brain feels like sludge, he's been cramming nothing but facts into it. He's been studying even harder than usual because if he is, he theorizes, he won't be able to think about Arthur instead.   
  
It's not working like he'd hoped and he really needs to stop thinking about Arthur because after all, Arthur has – not directly but as good as – rejected him. He was the one who brought up he had a girlfriend and even if they have broken up, that doesn't mean he will suddenly change his mind and realize that Alfred is the most awesome person ever. He needs to get over it.   
  
But he can't stop thinking about him and what Jack and Matthew said. He planned to confess to Arthur the next time he saw him, to put his plan to get over him by getting an outright rejection so he can move on with his life. It's a heroic plan and it would totally work if it wasn't for the fact every time he saw Arthur his legs went weak and he ran off in the opposite direction instead. He's being not a coward, he's just...  
  
No, he thinks to himself with a sigh, he is being a coward. He's done lots of brave things in his life, there's not much he's afraid of (ghosts don't count because it's only logical to be afraid of them) but the idea of talking to Arthur scares the shit out of him. He'll just man up and do it once he's done with his finals.   
  
Alfred focuses on his work again, and he's so focused that he doesn't realize someone is behind him until there's a hand on his shoulder. He jumps, knocking his books off the table and earning a glare from the guy he's sharing his table with. Alfred takes out his earphones and his heart only pounds faster when he sees who’s behind him.  
  
"Can we talk?" Arthur asks him in a whisper and the tone of his voice suggests that today Arthur is in a foul mood and will not be taking no as an answer. Alfred gets the feeling this will be the second time he gets chewed out by someone for reasons unknown to him, possibly in public again, this month. He really doesn't like it.   
  
"Can it wait? I mean..." Alfred gestures to his books because he really doesn't like the vibe that Arthur's giving off right now, and Arthur grits his teeth as if he's trying his very best not to shout.  
  
"Alfred," he spits out, "do you really think I'd have spent an hour looking for you in hell week if it wasn't fucking urgent?" His voice rises at the end and the guy opposite is listening in now. Alfred can tell by the way his typing has suddenly stopped.   
  
"Can it be quick?"  
  
"It'll take as long as it fucking needs to! Hurry up already!" Arthur is furious and Alfred really doesn't know what's made him this angry as he picks up his books and starts packing them away. He doesn't want to know, in fact he'd really like to run away and find a safe place to hide instead, but he has a feeling Arthur might hunt him down and injure him if he tried to.

They leave the building and Arthur walks to the small garden nearby, occasionally looking behind him to make sure Alfred hasn't run off. It's a surprise that the garden is empty when the weather's clear like this but Alfred isn't going to complain if it means they don't have an audience for whatever is about to happen. There's a bench but Arthur chooses to stand under one of the blossoming trees instead. Alfred joins him, staring at his sneakers while Arthur looks at the blossom, trying to compose himself. After a minute Alfred decides to break the silence.  
  
"So, uh." Arthur still looks annoyed but he doesn't look as blindingly angry as he did earlier. "Look, Arthur–"  
  
"I know that you used to date Hannah." Alfred stops talking in surprise because he wasn't expecting that to come out of Arthur's mouth.   
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Francis told me." That asshole, Alfred thinks furiously, why the hell did he go tell him that? He's going to hit him next time he sees him. "He said he was telling me to stop me from making another mistake. Tell me then, am I?" There’s a measured note to Arthur's voice, like he's putting all his effort into sounding composed, trying to hide how angry he is. Alfred is out of his depth and he feels like any step he makes will be directly onto a landmine.   
  
"I don't understand."  
  
He's trodden right onto one as he finds himself shoved up against the tree – damn, Arthur's strong when he's angry – Arthur's hands digging into the front of his sweatshirt and he's sure he could stop Arthur from pining him down but he’s too surprised to move right now.   
  
"Were you just making an idiot of me the whole time? Was that the whole reason you did this, just so you could wait for the right time to strike and get her back?"   
  
"Dude, listen to me–"  
  
"Did you think you could just undermine me until–"  
  
"Arthur, listen to me! It wasn't like that–"  
  
"Until I liked you more than her and then you could just...just reject me and have her back!" Alfred's still trying to protest, right until his brain catches up with the words 'until I liked you more than her' and then his brain crashes.   
  
"-and why would you like me anyway." Alfred’s brain finally resets and he catches Arthur's last words. He looks angry and like he's about to cry at the same time and he's really gotten this wrong, he's never seen Arthur miss the mark this badly before. "I guess I'm just–"  
  
"Arthur, can you PLEASE shut up and let me explain?" Alfred says as he removes Arthur's hands from his sweatshirt and pushing him back enough that he's no longer pressed to the tree. He runs his hand through his hair and this is not how he planned his confession to go but he has to clear this up now before it gets any worse.  
  
"First, I don't still like Hannah–"  
  
"But then why–"  
  
"Can you please just shut up for a minute? Just let me explain already." Arthur falls silent and Alfred continues. "At first I was curious to see what kind of guy Hannah left me for, yeah, but it was never about getting her back – c'mon dude, you know I'm too awesome for that kind of thing." The look on Arthur's face, however, suggests he doesn't know that. "I just wanted to know if you were better than me."  
  
"And?" Arthur is staring at him, like he can't believe this is happening and Alfred smiles.   
  
"Probably."  
  
Alfred is sure that he's awesome, despite certain people who'd disagree. And even though he's a bad-tempered scrawny jerk who thinks he can cook but really can't, he happens to think that Arthur is pretty awesome too. He takes Arthur's hands into his own and Arthur lets him, though it might just be the shock that's stopping him from objecting.   
  
"You're pretty amazing Arthur, so I just ended up falling for you instead." He can feel himself blush and he can't look at him as he says it because my god, this is embarrassing.  
  
"But...why?"  
  
"I could give you a whole list of reasons, I really could." He's been listing them in his head the entire time he's been doing this...whatever the hell it was. Alfred doesn't know if Arthur will be able to trust him again after this and he really should have come clean about this earlier. He's still probably going to hit Francis the next time he sees him anyway, even if he did do the right thing by telling Arthur what he was too much of a coward to say.

"I know it's a weird situation, falling for your ex's new boyfriend but...here I am." He meets Arthur's eyes again. Arthur is staring at him in shock, though he looks less angry now. "I'm not doing this to mess with your head or anything. I just...I just really like you Arthur."  
  
"Jesus, you fucking idiot-" Arthur lurches forward and Alfred shuts his eyes because he thinks Arthur's going to slug him. He probably does deserve but it's still going to hurt.   
  
But Arthur doesn't hit him. He just grabs his face and kisses him instead. Alfred falls back against the tree in surprise, smacking his head against the tree but they don't stop. He doesn't open his eyes even though it might help because this is probably the most awkward kiss ever and their teeth even bang together at one point. But once they're comfortable Alfred doesn't want to stop because  _holy shit_  he could really get addicted to kissing Arthur. In fact he's sure he already is.   
  
When they break apart, they're both flushed and Arthur has blossom petals in his hair. Alfred leans over and picks some of them out and Arthur swats his hand away.   
  
"You're the biggest idiot I've ever met." Arthur states and Alfred pauses to think about it before nodding in agreement.  
  
"But I'm your idiot, right?" He needs to learn to control his mouth sometime, but it just felt natural to fall back into teasing like this. Arthur raises an eyebrow but huffs and he knows Arthur well enough to know that it's a sign he's managed to not completely mess up.  
  
"I guess someone has to stop you from wrecking anymore destruction." Arthur concedes.   
  
"Thanks Artie." Alfred decides to try his luck a little further and leans in and kisses his ear. Arthur yelps and pushes him away.  
  
"Don't call me that!"   
  
"But I'm your girlfriend now, right?"  
  
"You're too bloody big to be a girl." Arthur grouses.   
  
"Boyfriend then?" He can't keep the hope out of his voice, because it wouldn't be completely out of Arthur's character to reject him because of their shared past even though they do both like each other.   
  
"Fine, boyfriend." The blush on his face suggests he's more than fine with it, much to Alfred’s relief, and Alfred leans in to kiss him again.  
  
"You know," Alfred says when the kiss ends and Arthur looks up at him, as if expecting something profound. "If the Many-worlds interpretation is correct, you rejected me in another universe. And in another I never met you because I didn't date Hannah, in another you're a housecat, and there's one where I'm the World’s Hero and in another one I'm some sort of giant squishy thing who wants to destroy the world..." He trails off when he sees Arthur's looking at him like he's a moron.   
  
"If this is your idea of romantic I'm starting to reconsider in this universe."  
  
"You're just jealous I'd be a hero and you wouldn't."   
  
"Envious. I'd be envious." Arthur corrects as he leans up to pick a petal that’s fallen in Alfred’s hair out like he did to him earlier. Alfred is pretty sure he’s just using as an excuse to touch his hair. Which reminds him...  
  
"Did you really think I was an angel that time?" Arthur goes bright red and drops his hand down, and Alfred misses his touch.   
  
"Well! Let's not dawdle! I have lots of things to do!" He grabs his bag and charges out of the garden. Alfred goes after him laughing because god, he doesn't think he's going to get tired of teasing Arthur, especially now he's not angry with him.  
  
"You did, didn't you?" He whispers in his ear when he catches up with him and Arthur swats him but doesn't deny it.   
  
"Is this what I have to put up with now?" He complains instead as Alfred slings an arm over his shoulder and plants a kiss on the top of his head.   
  
"Yup! No backsies!"  
  
"What am I going to do with you, honestly?" But the affection is clear is in his voice and when Alfred looks at his face it's the most open he's ever seen it. He looks happy, real genuinely happy, and it makes Alfred's breath catch in his throat before he meets it with a smile of his own. He's been given something so rare and precious to him and this time he swears he won't mess it up.   
  
Alfred's going to try his best to make sure Arthur always has a reason to smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Just going to put my original end notes here - the omake did happen, you can find it via the series link below!)  
> And that's the end! Thanks for all the comments and I hoped people enjoyed reading it (because I really enjoyed writing it).  
> When I de-anon I might include an omake with it, if my porny muses decide to work. If I do I'll link it here (if that's not against the rules? I think it's okay). 
> 
> Some random notes from me:  
> *That complete bastardization of The Many-worlds theory purely to make a shout-out to the canon/canon AUs/Mochimerica (my liege!). I'm sorry.  
> *I felt kinda bad about making Hannah so horrible at the end, and I like to think she takes the whole affair as a learning experience and ends up out-growing her bratty behaviour.  
> *The college is somewhere in New England.  
> *Ludwig was all depressed over messing up with art teacher!Feliciano who was teaching his life drawing class. He's really bad at art so he was keeping it on the low-down and I might write that sometime if I have time. Maybe.  
> *I didn't originally plan to have Matthew cameo but it just worked out that way. I'm pleased with it because I think I rewrote that last part about three times.  
> *Arthur's dime confusion? Totally based on my own experiences. 
> 
> I don't think there's anything else so I'll conclude here by saying thanks for reading again!


End file.
